Almost Crazy
by Clara
Summary: One thing after another seems to go wrong for Serena after a certain black haired, blue eyed devil comes and steals her job. [on hiatus]
1. Coffeehouse Blues

A/N: Hmm.. Well, since I love playing with the Sailor Moon timeline, well, not really timeline but universe, that's what I'm gunna do right now. Yeah, that's right. It's another AU fic.   
  
Comments are welcome, criticism is remembered, flames are puzzled over, MST's are enjoyed (but tell me first).   
  
Disclaimers: If I owned Sailor Moon, then I'd be putting my stories on TV rather than typing them out, hn?   
  
  
Almost Crazy  
by Clara  
  
  
"He is driving me crazy!" Serena Tsukino shouted, flinging her scarf to the ground in emphasis, then crushing it with the heel of her boot. "It's as if he's _trying_ to ruin my life!"   
  
Raye Hino watched her best friend with unveiled amusement as the irritated blonde jumped up and down on her scarf. "Really, Serena. I hope you're not talking about the one and only Darien Chiba, are you?"   
  
The forementioned picked up her tattered and dirty pink scarf and brandished it towards Raye as a type of weapon. Darkly, she glared at the almost priestess, then switched her glaredown at the remains of her once favorite scarf. "As a matter of fact.." she sneered, "I am."   
  
Raye sighed in mock exasperation, falling dramatically down onto a nearby bench. She brought her hands to her temples and rubbed them tiredly, annoyance only half pretense. "So tell me, fluffbrain, what'd he do this time?"   
  
Serena slumped down next to Raye, worn from the constant jumping and cursing and yelling. All the anger had drained from her face, replaced with a depressed sort of rejection. Then the tears came. Huge, fat tears that rolled down her splotchy cheeks.. not the kind that disappeared as soon as she got what she wanted, but the kind that was accompanied by soft, angry, and hurt sobs. Raye started in shock, then awkwardly pat Serena on the shoulder. _For once.. I wonder if Darien over stepped his boundaries.._ "What happened, Rena?"   
  
Serena sniffled noisily, then ran the back of her gloved hand across her nose. Making a disgusted face, she carefully pulled off the glove finger by finger and carelessly tossed it to the side. Regardless of the chilly winter air, she pulled off her other glove and rubbed both her eyes with balled up fists. "He.. he.." she managed around hiccups. Taking a deep, shuddering breath she tried to get out what she wanted to say again. Letting out a loud sob, she drew both her legs to her chest and dropped her head on top of her knees. "He got me fiiiiiired!"   
  
Raye blanked, motionless hand still on Serena's shoulder. Darien.. got Serena fired? No way. That was just.. too absurd. Although Serena and Darien seemed to despise each other with a passion, from what Raye knew of Darien she was positive he would never do something so cruel.   
  
Serena had been working at a cafe down the street for over a year now. She started the job to try and impress Andrew, and also to save up for this hot new Sailor V game, but she ended up.. falling in love with her job. Why? Raye would never know. Maybe it was because during the winter time, piles of kids would group around the counter to buy large cups of hot chocolate, or maybe it was because Serena loved to see young and old couples walk in, hand and hand and reminsce over large lattes. But whatever. The question was, how and why did Darien get Serena fired?   
  
When Raye was sure her pigtailed friend was able to talk, much less talk coherently, she asked, "how, Rena?"   
  
Serena hiccuped quietly, still rubbing her eyes with her balled up fist. "H-he needed a job.. I guess, for the winter.. and.. and.. he t-talked to my manager and somehow got me fired for my job!" She almost didn't finish that sentence, a fresh new batch of heartbreaking sobs rocking her slender body.   
  
Raye frowned, then bit her lip thoughtfully. "You want me to talk to hi-"   
  
"NO," Serena cut in forcefully, head snapping up and sobs disappearing. However, the fat tears still rolled down her cheeks. Raye frowned a bit. "No. Please don't, Raye. The first thing he'll do is say that I was incapable of the job in the first place, that I'd probably have dropped the lattes on the people's laps." Serena paused, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of her lips. So what if she had done that a couple of times..   
  
Standing up, she straightened herself as tall as she could, then smiled down at Raye, trying to make the tears in her eyes disappear. "Don't worry about it, Raye. I'll.. I'll talk to him after I've calmed down a bit, okay?"   
  
Raye opened her mouth the protest, but a single blue eyed glare shut her up. She nodded ever so slightly in comfirmation, and Serena smiled at her, turning around and walking away.   
  
"Thanks, Raye. We'll have to go shopping some other time.. I don't think I'm in the mood today.." she called over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off the busy street, in fear that her cloudy vision would cause her to knock into something. Or worse yet, someone.   
  
It was inevitable, though. A few blocks away from where she left Raye, her blind stumblings were cut to an abrupt halt. She fell unceremoniously on her butt, already numb hands slamming to the ground to try and break her fall. She winced at the sharp pain that shot up from both her hands.   
  
"Of course," she said, closing her eyes and not daring to open them, in fear of what she might see. "Of course, this would have to happen on the very worst day of my whole entire teenage life!"   
  
"What, flunk another test?" a cooly familiar voice asked. Serena's blood froze and heart stopped beating. Disbelievingly, she opened one eye, then let out an anguished groan.   
  
A smug, black haired, blue eyed devil smirked down at her, utterly destroying the remnants of her already crumbling world.   
  
Serena clumsily stumbled to her feet, wondering who in the heavens wanted her life to be so miserable. Blue eyes becoming almost black, she mustered all the hatred she felt for everything and everyone into a single glare, then held her head up high and walked away.   
  
Darien stood there, looking confused and more than a little startled. He had known Serena for a short time, and never, ever had he seen, or felt that much hate come from her small body. Hell, he never felt that much hate come from _anyone_.   
  
And why, in heavens name, was all that hate directed at _him_?   
  
*   
  
"GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T RIP YOUR HEAD OFF, DARIEN CHIBA!"   
  
Darien winced and clapped his hands over his ears as a reflex, glaring at his answer machine. Already, this was the fifth message from Raye shouting confusing obscentities into his ear.   
  
"Because I have no idea what I did!" he shouted back at his answering machine, hands still firmly over his ears. He sighed and walkedback over to the offending object, waiting until the shrieking died down a bit to remove one hand from his ear and click the off button. He had a feeling that the other seven messages were Raye remembering a few more curses to shout at him. Heaving out a great sigh, he dragged himself back into his living room and fell dramatically on his black leather couch, draping an arm over his eyes.   
  
The phone rang.   
  
He jerked into a sitting position, eyes wide. Hesitantly, he glanced over at his cordless phone on his coffee table, then made a face and slumped back down. _Let the answering machine get it. With my luck it's.._   
  
"DARIEN CHIBA, I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!"   
  
_..Raye._   
  
Darien groaned and pulled one of the couches pillows over his head, wondering who in the heavens wanted his life to be so miserable.   
  
This was going to be a loooong night.   
  
--   
  
end prologue


	2. Rock Bottom

A/N: Hmm.. Well, since I love playing with the Sailor Moon timeline, well, not really timeline but universe, that's what I'm gunna do right now. Yeah, that's right. It's another AU fic.   
  
Comments are welcome, criticism is remembered, flames are puzzled over, MST's are enjoyed (but tell me first).   
  
*sigh* But if you want to MST me, please have a more original reason than I'm using the dubbed name and this is an alternate universe fic. Names don't matter to me at all, and if that's what everyone's annoyed about then you can bite me. It's the characters that count, thanks.   
  
Besides.. I've seen every single episode of the original version, thanks to my friend.   
  
Disclaimers: If I owned Sailor Moon, then I'd be putting my stories on TV rather than typing them out, hn?   
  
Oh yeah.. please ignore the thing that says "end prologue" and the end of the first part. It should really be "end chapter one" -.-; Sorry all.   
  
  
Almost Crazy  
Clara  
Ldechols@aol.com  
  
  
Whoever coined the phrase, "you can't go any further after you hit rock bottom" must have not been a teenage girl. Serena Tsukino proved this person wrong indefinitely. Not only had she hit rock bottom, but she had brought a shovel to dig herself deeper.   
  
Or actually, that's what she would tell you if asked.   
  
After Serena had gotten home from her fatal encounter with that certain black haired devil, the first thing she thought of doing was taking a nice hot shower, to hopefully wash away all her problems. Nothing can go wrong with a hot shower, right?   
  
However, as Serena was bitterly realizing, Murphy was frighteningly right when he said, "if anything can go wrong, it will." Her dear, sweet, innocent, _stupid_ brother was doing a wonderful job proving this right.   
  
Serena sighed, allowing the already steaming water to wash away the tenseness in her shoulders. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting out a tired breath of relief as the weight of the world slowly slipped off her shoulders and puddled down the drain. Half dozing in the warmth of the shower, she reached over to grab her shampoo when..   
  
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"   
  
After a moment, she realized that screaming wouldn't help her and leapt out from underneath the near boiling water. Her normally creamy back and shoulders had already turned into a lobster red, and she screamed again at the familiar laughter coming from the direction of her their other bathroom.   
  
"SAMMY! I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!"   
  
Quickly, the livid blond slipped out of the shower and slid over to her towel, twice almost losing her balance. Wrapping the pink fluffy towel around her body, she ran over to the bathroom door and pounded on it with one fist, other hand holding the towel up.   
  
"You stupid.. stupid.. brat!" she screamed threateningly. Sammy just laughed. "I swear, if you do that again, I'll rip you apart!"   
  
"Oooh.. I'm soooo scared," Sammy mocked. His laughter faded away, and there was a faint sound of someone slamming a door. Serena sighed and leaned her forehead against the bathroom's door. It was going to be a loooong night.   
  
*   
  
"DARIEN!"   
  
Darien shot into a sitting position and looked around wildly, trying to put a face on the voice. After a few moments, he realized it was just the answering machine again and lay back down, intent on going back to sleep. What on earth had he been dreaming about? Something about.. about..   
  
Dancing latte's with meatballs tied to their tops by spaghetti?   
  
Letting out a tired groan, he grabbed the pillow and was about to put it back over his head when the person who was yelling at him over the answering machine continued.   
  
"Darien," Andrew grumbled in an exasperated voice. "This is the fourth time I've called you, and I know you're home. Pick up already, will you?"   
  
"Yeah, yeah," he said thickly to his answering machine, then grabbed his phone from the table and clicked the on button. "Whatcha want, Drew?"   
  
"Took you long enough!" Andrew growled in an annoyed voice. Darien frowned. It wasn't like Andrew to get annoyed over something so trivial.   
  
"What's the matter?"   
  
Andrew sighed. "Raye came into the arcade today as if hell were on her heels--"   
  
"Oh damn.." the black haired teen groaned, flinging his arm over his eyes. "Not her again.."   
  
Darien could almost hear Andrew raise an eyebrow. "Oh? Then I suppose you know that she wants to rip your head off."   
  
Sigh. "Yeah. All too well. She left enough messages on my answering machine to make sure I wouldn't forget that she wanted my head on a plaque. Though, why? I'm not sure.."   
  
Andrew fell silent. "You mean.. you don't know?"   
  
_That's better. At least he doesn't sound like he wants to kill me anymore.._ "What's there to know?" He flung his free hand out in desperate exasperation. "And why.. oh _why_ is everyone suddenly turning against me?"   
  
Once again, silence. "I think you better talk to Serena, Dare."   
  
Darien sighed, closing his eyes and letting his arm fall limp behind him and over the arm rest of his couch by his head. "So it _does_ have to do with her. Care to tell me what's up?"   
  
"That's none of my business." With that, Andrew cheerfully hung up.   
  
Darien pulled the phone away from his ear and glared at it accusingly. With an angry snort, he heaved it across the room where it landed with a soft thump on his white carpet.   
  
What the _hell_ was going on with everyone?   
  
*   
  
Serena sighed, sitting at the edge of her bed and rubbing her long blonde hair with a towel. Drops of water fell from her hair and to her pink comforter and on the collar of her flannel jammies, but she ignored it.   
  
People sucked.   
  
Sighing, she let her towel fall to her bed and stood up, briefly wondering if they had any microwavables in their refrigerator. Since they worked late on Saturdays, both her parents were still at work; her mom at a floral shop and her dad as his company, so therefore she couldn't depend on her mom to make her something to eat, at least not at the moment.   
  
For once that day, her luck seemed to be up. Inside her freezer was a decent amount of frozen teriyaki bowls. She grabbed one, pulled the cover off half way, then stuck it in the microwave and punched in the time she was supposed to cook it for. Relieved, she walked over to the answering machine to see if there were any new messages while she was in the shower. To her surprise, the answering machine blinked. She pressed the on button and walked back into the kitchen, walking over to her cabinet and grabbing a glass.   
  
"Serena. It's Nick. Meet me at eight at the park, okay?"   
  
Serena's face broke out into a childish grin. Nick and her had been going out for a total of two years, and she just knew that they were going to get married one day. Letting out a happy sigh, she twirled around her kitchen.   
  
Today was a good day.   
  
Serena frowned. Eight. That's when her parents came home. And she knew for a fact that her father could not stand Nick. Could not stand any guy she ever even talked to, even.   
  
Oh well. She'd just have to leave at seven-thirty or something.   
  
Feeling a familiar pang of guilt, she started to pour herself a glass of juice and listened to the next message.   
  
"Hi, Serena!" Raye's voice cheerfully chimed over the answering machine. For some reason, her chirpiness seemed a bit.. strained. "Amy and I are going shopping tomorrow, and I was wondering if you would like to come?"   
  
"Yeah, sure," Serena said to her answering machine, reaching into her refrigerator to grab something. It was then she realized that answering machines don't talk, and blushed. _Oh well.. at least no one saw me.._   
  
Something was nagging her, though. Something.. something..   
  
"Oh, damn! It's already seven-fifteen!"   
  
*   
  
"..Serena."   
  
Serena paused in mid step. There Nick was, standing there like some sort of Greek god. But.. there was something.. _different_ about him. His usually aloof stance was more rigid, and his normally grinning face was set in a stern kind of frown.   
  
All high hopes and happiness fled with a single look from those hard green eyes.   
  
"N-Nick..?"   
  
Nick looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. He cleared his throat and cracked his knuckles nervously.   
  
And Serena looked at him with hooded, heartbroken eyes, knowing exactly what was going to happen.   
  
"Look, Serena.. I just don't think we're right for each other, yanno? I mean, we're so different.. and I think.. I think we should be just friends.." He faltered on the last word, gulping a little when he saw that frozen look in Serena's eyes.   
  
"Oh, I know perfectly," Serena hissed, then turned around and walked away, heading towards Raye's temple.   
  
Nick watched with blank eyes, face troubled. Somehow, he knew he had just let the opportunity of his life slip out of his hands. Sighing, he turned and walked in the opposite direction.   
  
--   
  
end chapter two   
  
A/N: I usually hate adding in my own character.. but I felt he was needed in this part.. 


End file.
